


Crossed Wires

by whenineternal



Series: Family Fluff [5]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Married Life, except angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-05 13:05:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16368194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whenineternal/pseuds/whenineternal
Summary: Doyoung takes Hyoje to a piano lesson and Jaehyun isn't happy about it.





	Crossed Wires

Jaehyun stands in the open doorway to their daughters room, quietly watching his husband sing their little girl to sleep. The soft tone of Doyoung’s voice soothes him as well and he can feel his anger and frustration almost slip away. 

He brings his arms up to cross loosely over his chest and the paper clutched in his fist crinkles, reminding him of what brought him to anger in the first place. Without another look at the sweet scene in the room, he turns on his heel and heads to his work station in the living room. Instead of working on his designs, it would be no use even trying in his current state, he sets about organising his desk and drawing board. 

Doyoung comes into the living room after only a few minutes, moving quietly and nimbly in the near dark to Jaehyun’s work station, a small, beautiful smile on his face. Jaehyun lets himself be pulled close in a hug, and allows one kiss from Doyoung because even if he is mad now, he has hated being away from home for the last two days and he has missed his family. 

“Why didn’t you come say hi?” Doyoung asks in a quiet voice, stroking a hand over Jaehyun’s hair. Jaehyun sighs harshly through his nose and turns away from Doyoung’s loving touches, leaning one hand on his desk to feel the sturdiness of it under his palm. He had been so happy when he walked through the door, so relieved to finally see Hyoje and Doyoung again, but his good mood had been snuffed like a candle in strong winds by a single sheet of paper on the lounge table. He hadn’t wanted to be mad when he saw Hyoje. 

“Jaehyun? Is something wrong?” Doyoung asks, reaching for him again only to pull back with an expression of hurt marring his face when Jaehyun shrugs him off. Which is not fair, because Jaehyun is the one who should feel hurt.

“Please tell me,” he starts, forcing the words past the tension in his jaw, “that you didn’t sign  _ our _ daughter up for piano lessons  _ without  _ discussing it with me.”

Doyoung’s expressive face changes from hurt and confusion to indignation and confusion.

“I haven’t signed her up for anything,” he says and Jaehyun scoffs at the outright lie.

“Then what the hell is this?” he whisper-yells as he holds up the paper that has been crinkled from his careless handling of it. Doyoung takes it from him and looks it over, quickly enough that Jaehyun can tell he already knows exactly what it says.

“It was a  _ free _ lesson, to see if she liked it,” Doyoung hisses, always so easily riled when it’s Jaehyun antagonising him. 

“The arts centre a couple blocks over are doing them for the next month to encourage people to sign up. I thought it was a good opportunity,” he explains, frowning when Jaehyun rolls his eyes and scoffs again.

“Yeah, and how long did you look to find this  _ good opportunity _ , huh?” Jaehyun curls his fingers in air quotes and the tension in Doyoung’s forehead increases.

“Are you mad at me for looking at activities for our  _ daughter _ ?” he scoffs, incredulous. Jaehyun stares at him for several long seconds, frustrated that Doyoung isn’t getting it and mad at the insinuating tone of his husband’s voice. 

“I am  _ mad _ , that you made the decision to sign our daughter up for this,” he points at the printed email in Doyoung’s hand, “when I was  _ away _ , when we have gone back and forth for weeks on what after school activities will be best for her. You went around me just like that!” He can see that Doyoung gets it at least a little, as his shoulders drop and his eyes flit around in the vicinity of Jaehyun’s chest instead of staring him right in the face like they had been. But it’s only a matter of seconds before his face hardens and his eyes are back to staring him down.

“There were limited spots, you were unreachable, I tried. So I made an executive decision and I am not going to apologise for it,” he says matter-of-factly, with little intonation in his voice. His lawyer voice.

“Don’t, don’t do that. This isn’t a courtroom, we are not on opposite sides don’t treat me like it,” Jaehyun throws back, even more angered by Doyoung’s seeming inability to take this as seriously as he needs to.

“I don’t want to be mitigated, I want to be heard.”

“Well then talk! Tell me why you’re so upset about this, because I can’t see it,” Doyoung says, checking himself when his voice got too loud. Neither of them wants to wake Hyoje with their fighting, and any sound travels easily through the apartment with no doors to block it. And Hyoje can’t sleep without her door open at least a little. 

“Is it because you didn’t want her to take piano lessons? Is that what this is about? What, you feel like you’ve lost?” Doyoung’s eyebrows rise higher on his forehead with every question he asks, and he scoffs an incredulous laugh at the end as if he has already decided that is what’s upsetting Jaehyun. Pride. 

“We already know Hyoje is musical,” Doyoung softens his tone, tired of fighting over something so stupid. “I wanted her to try it, so that she’ll know this is something she can do.”

“Do? What like you did? Well that turned out great,” Jaehyun taunts, intending to hurt and feeling guilty for it a second later. Doyoung goes still and Jaehyun can see every thread of hurt settling over him as his jaw trembles and his eyes get glassy with unshed tears. Doyoung’s failed music career is a sore topic, and Jaehyun has never used it against him before, ever. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, eyes closed in regret. He wants to hold Doyoung, touch him so that he’ll feel his remorse in that physical connection, but when he reaches out Doyoung moves back. 

“What’s really bothering you Jaehyun?” Doyoung asks, his voice cold and inquisitive. He has closed himself off and Jaehyun has only himself to blame. 

“You can’t be this upset over something so small, that’s just stupid.”

It’s not even a dig at him, but it sets him off despite his lingering guilt.

“Stupid. It’s stupid now. What happened to  _ if it upsets you then it’s not stupid _ ? I can’t even count the amount of times you’ve said that to me, what’s with the change of attitude?”

Doyoung only sighs and Jaehyun stares at him for a second longer before turning away, shaking his head as he walks past his husband. 

“I’m tired, it was a stressful trip. I’m gonna sleep in the guest room tonight,” he says before he is halted by Doyoung’s strong fingers gripping his wrist and pulling him back. 

“No Jaehyun don’t,” Doyoung gasps, sounding desperate for something. 

“We need to settle this, you can’t leave now. We’re fighting and we can’t just put it aside, that’s how people get divorced.”

Jaehyun turns back with a muted sigh. Doyoung may be exaggerating the current situation, but he’s not exactly wrong. If they don’t work it out now, they risk falling into a pattern of negligence and that only ends one way.

“I didn’t mean that it’s stupid you’re upset, I meant that …” Doyoung takes a deep breath, his eyelids fluttering rapidly as he attempts to gather his wits.

“I know you’re not an irrational person, and I’m worried there is something else exacerbating your anger at this. Please talk to me.”

Doyoung’s fingers slide softly over his hand, pressing their palms together as his other hand comes up to wrap completely around Jaehyun’s hand, cocooning it between both of Doyoung’s. The soft touch coupled with the gentle, open look on Doyoung’s face douses Jaehyun’s anger until only the fear and frustration remains. As he opens his mouth to speak, a quiet voice behind them draws their attention.

“Papa, you’re home,” Hyoje mumbles, sleepiness in her voice and her tired eyes and in the heaviness of her limbs as she holds her arms out for Jaehyun. 

Jaehyun slips his hand free of Doyoung’s and walks quickly to kneel in front of his daughter, drawing her small body into his arms. 

“Hey honey, why aren’t you asleep?” he whispers against the top of her head, pressing a kiss to her crown.

“I heard voices,” she mumbles into his neck, clinging to him as tightly as her tired fists can. A slight wince crosses Jaehyun’s face and he gathers his little girl into his arms and rises carefully to his feet. He doesn’t look back as he takes her to her room and tucks her carefully into bed.

“Papa, are you and daddy getting a divorce?” she asks then and the quietly voiced question leaves him frozen straight through. 

“No honey, we’re not. Why do you think that?” he brushes a hand over her hair and then takes both her hands in his, briefly pressing his mouth against her knuckles.

“Kyungsoo, a boy in my class, said that his parents fought a lot and then they got a divorce,” she hiccups and blinks rapidly as her eyes well up with tears.

“And now they don’t live together anymore, and he never does anything with both of them at the same time anymore.” Hyoje is almost crying by the time she stops to take a gasping breath of air, the tears clinging to her eyelashes, and the sight of his baby girl so distraught breaks his heart.

He moves to sit against the headboard of the bed and pulls Hyoje into his arms, cuddling her against his chest as he buries his face in her hair.

“Your daddy and I don’t fight a lot though do we?” he murmurs, smiling when she takes a moment to think before shaking her head, rubbing her face over his shirt. 

“Now, you,” he tickles her side a little so she laughs, “are my favourite person in the entire world, but I also love your daddy so  _ so _ much, and a couple or even a lot of disagreements will never change that. We are  _ not _ going to get a divorce, not now and not in the future,” he swears, hugging her tightly and rocking them gently back and forth. 

It’s a big promise to make, and he knows statistically the odds are against them, but he also knows exactly how infuriating Doyoung can be and he still wants to spend the rest of his life with him. They have been through the worst life can throw at them and have come out of it stronger than they were before. A small fight like this is nothing, but he still needs to tell Doyoung what is actually bothering him. His infuriatingly insightful husband is right again, of course. 

He sits with Hyoje until she falls back to sleep, and then he goes to find Doyoung. His husband is curled up on his side on the sofa, clutching a pillow to his chest and staring blankly at the dark television screen. Jaehyun crouches in front of him and lays a hand against the side of his head, stroking his cheek with his thumb. 

“I’m sorry I said that about your music, it was a terrible thing to say and I’m so so sorry,” he murmurs, smiling tremulously when Doyoung turns his face into his hand with a small smile of his own.

“I forgive you,” he whispers and presses a kiss into Jaehyun’s palm.

“Why are we fighting about this?” Doyoung whispers, sounding tired and weary. Jaehyun closes his eyes with a sigh, only opening them again when he opens his mouth to speak.

“Because I’m scared,” he confesses in the quietest of whispers. 

“You, your work, it has you pretty stationary here, but me I will sometimes have to  _ seek out _ clients if I want the work, and that means more trips like this and being away. And the first time I went away, Hyoje got sick, which was no one’s fault. And then there was the issue with her new kindergarten teacher when she was five, please” he holds a hand up to silence Doyoung when he opens his mouth.

“I know you had to make a hasty decision, I never blamed you for not waiting until you could reach me, but the problem is that I wasn’t here, with you and with Hyoje to make that decision together. And now there’s another change; another development in our daughter’s life that’s happened while I wasn’t around to see it.”

Doyoung is gripping his hand, his warm lips pressed against his fingers, and the overwhelming love washing over him, transferred from that miniscule point of contact from Doyoung to him makes the words hard to get out. 

“I’m scared that the next time, it’s not going to be a piano lesson. It’ll be her first recital, or the first report card she’ll bring home, or the first heartbreak or her graduation I don’t want to miss her graduation,” he sobs and Doyoung laughs, sparking a sobbing giggle in him as well. 

Doyoung pushes himself forward in the soft cushions, capturing Jaehyun’s mouth in a long kiss. 

“That’s not going to happen,” he whispers against Jaehyun’s mouth, pressing small, fluttery kisses over his lips. 

“We are not going to let it happen.” He wraps an arm around Jaehyun’s shoulders and pulls him close until he is almost lying on top of him, and Jaehyun sighs heavily into Doyoung’s mouth as their lips meet in another deep kiss. 

“We’ll work hard on it,” Doyoung murmurs, running his fingers through Jaehyun’s hair and Jaehyun makes a sound of agreement, pressed against the soft underside of Doyoung’s jaw. 

“Let’s go to bed,” he whispers, almost lulled to sleep by the gentle caress of Doyoung’s fingers against his skull.

“In  _ our _ room,” Doyoung emphasises and Jaehyun drowns his assent in the plushiness of Doyoung’s mouth. 

**Author's Note:**

> [Find me on Twitter](https://twitter.com/whenineternal)   
>  [Or Curious Cat](https://curiouscat.me/whenineternal)


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